Is UD Champs a dud?

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bidds55

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In looking for some PC cards from 08-09 UD Champs, it appears that this product was either lightly broken, or for some reason, many of the parallels, even ones that aren't supposed to be rare at all, just aren't showing up through the traditional channels (ebay, box breaks here and elsewhere, shops, shows, etc).

I know there was a lot of hype surrounding the product prior to release, and it seems (at least to me), like any excitement about champs was quite short lived, and singles that I have been watching (which is an extremely small sample size) just haven't seen any interest from buyers.

So the question is; Is UD Champs a lightly broken dud product? Or am I way off base here?
 
My understanding was this product was to be heavy on the retail side - yet I haven't seen much out there. We all know about the 699 hobby cases - but very little of the retail has appeared as of yet
 
I don't think it's a dud product, I just don't think it really caters to big home run pulls. Seems to be popular with some people in my area, and with some people online.

UD did something a little different here, and I gotta give them a little credit for it.
 
There were only 700 hobby cases produced which is the reason you don't see the quantity of singles popping up. UD "Sold Out" so they have zero left for re-order for Hobby Shops and distributors. Unless a few distributors are sitting on a bunch of the stuff, which I doubt, based upon the current wax prices..... Maybe the expo will shed some light on this. If you see a ton of Champs wax there... Well you get my drift. Mike
 
as soon as i found out the fossils etc were redemptions i broke NONE of this product. and i know quite a few people who felt the same way.
 
I've found it one of the easiest products in a long time to trade and build a set. Lots of people working on all or part of it. Personally, I'm holding most of my parallels and other hits to trade for other pieces I need.
 
The fossils being redemptions didn't help, and the short-print fossils being VERY short-printed while Mammoth femurs were getting pulled left and right kind of diluted the fossil market some. The autograph collation was horrid, with countless Kronwall, Cleary, Murphy, Iggulden, Hiller, and other common players pulled. Other than that I still love the concept behind the product, the price range is just way too high to justify busting more boxes.
 
For the most part Champs is a very cool product but too high a price point. Topps A&G was the competitor but Topps A&G slabbed their jersey cards and auto's nicely.. these are loosely inserted.

I love the concept but it should have had a lower price point. In any case, I pretty much broke 2 boxes of it because i am a habitual wax ripper and the one thing that stood out was that these cards would be awesome for TTM auto's.

This is the reason why I like some of the older Topps C55 and Pacific Exhibit cards.. I had a lot of nice auto's come back on those cards.

All in all i doubt its a big dud but its not for everyone, I personally would not have broken any but I don't slam the product either.
 
I think the price point was ok. HOWEVER...the timing was poor, in that it got brought across the border into Canada when the exchange rate was at a recent abysmal - around 0.73 or thereabouts. That kicked the wax price solidly in the nards.
 
In my opinion there are some recipes that work well in a particular sport and don't in others. Likewise there are some that bring a nice theme and translate over all sports. I am not a fan of this release. It was a theme that was novel in baseball and received praise as an innovative release. Football tried it with Mayo and now Champs in hockey. The shine wore off for me and I didn't see appeal in either release that followed. I'll grab the singles I need but otherwise I would not be upset that it was a one time try and doesn't return next year.

I do see the appeal as a TTM product though.
 
I was not a fan of the minis as I had no way to storing them safely. It's hard enough with all the different card thicknesses but now I got to worry about length and width? The hits didn't justify it. I feel bad for all the scrubs who had to sign all these tiny cards...

Also I saw the box breaks, is there nothing on the back of the base cards?
 
The concept is okay, the execution was, once again, poor especially after failing to deliver on the variety of autos outside that was supposed to make this set really exciting for hockey and non-hockey fans alike. I mean, anything that's non-hockey is a redemption. Fun!!
 
It's a set-builder's set - if you're ripping it expecting the home run hit - more often than not you'll get disappointed.
 
I have to admit that I really liked the product and my kids loved the natural history cards. I enjoyed opening the product and the look of the cards and they will be amazing to send for TTM. However I was disappointed in the reduced list of autographs and the fact that the auto's and jerseys were left loose and not encased like the A&G counterparts.
 
I feel the product was a little strange my self. It is great that UD tried something new but I think with champs and ice coming a week apart it hurt both of them. Collectors had 2 products with poor collation as far as anthing with value and both at about the same price point. Although champs did sell out for me and ice hasn't I think I do like the ice better. Champs just didn't make sense to bust to get any value out of it, at least with ice every 6th or 7th box had some good value in it. By no means am I bashing UD but I think Champs should have been released during 2 proven products like SPA and BAP instead of between Collectors Choice (which we all know is like) and Ice (which alot of us still remember 05/06 Ice).
 
Fix the auto checklist for next year and it might go over better. Use the Legendary Classics auto list for a retro product and stick the benchwarmers in MVP.
 

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